Personal Bests

A Look Back.

I have always been a big birthday person. I love birthdays. I love celebrating birthdays, talking about birthdays, planning birthday gifts/treats/parties.

I actually always feel a bit awkward on my own birthday. I’m not really the all-eyes-on-me type. Casey isn’t either, which is a big part of why we want our wedding to be more of a big group party than a bride & groom stage show. But I have come to accept that on your birthday, you have to be the center of attention and just go with it:)

The day started off really well! I opened a birthday package from Mary Ann, to discover the most awesome hand-knit cupcake I have ever seen, complete with Nutrition Facts label (zero calories, 100% daily love!) and a Duff Goldman action figure. Awesome. Next up – breakfast with Casey, which is my favorite part of every day. Today’s featured delicious homemade banana bread (yum!) and a banana coffee smoothie. Then Casey had me open his gift, which was a super soft and fabulous North Face jacket! I was very excited:)

After work, I have to get through a short 4 mile run and weight set before the festivities can continue. Then it’s yummy homemade dinner at our place, and relaxing with my family. Tomorrow night I’m celebrating with my fabulous friends at my favorite sushi restaurant!

Standing in the shower this morning, I tried to think back to my birthday last year, and how different my life was just a short year ago. I lived in a different house, I wasn’t engaged, I was nervous about running 13 miles for the first time, and I was looking forward to a party that night at Monk’s Cove (which was really fun!).

This morning, I realized that even though 28 feels really really old, today I think my life is exactly where it should be. I pinch myself every day that I’m the lucky girl that gets to wake up next to Casey. I love my house and my dogs. I am healthy. I have a group of life-long friends that I cherish. I am lucky enough to have my wonderful mom and little sister who’s house I can walk to. I am marrying into a second family that I couldn’t possibly love any more.

Thinking of the difference between 27 and 28, I can only wonder what 29 will bring…

Thanks to all of you who love me and help me to celebrate me today. Your love and friendship are what get me from one birthday to the next.

Sorry, sorry. This week really got away from me. I am starting to freak out about wedding stuff and how much I have left to do in so little time. I will save that for a later post, as I’m pushing it to the back of my mind – which is also how I got into my current situation… Back on track!

What I love: Kroger Carbmaster Yogurt

This stuff is insane. I hope you all live near a Kroger, because I truly feel this love is brand specific. I’ve tried Light & Fit, Yoplait, Stonyfield Farm – all of them. Trust me, this one is the best.

Here’s the thing – I’m not really all about the whole low-carb craze. In fact, I eat a lot of carbs. As a marathon trainee, every night we usually have some variation of carbs in our dinner – brown rice, quinoa, or whole wheat pasta. My initial purchase happened because they were sold out of Kroger Lite (favorite runner-up) so I was forced to stand in the yogurt aisle for an hour analyzing nutrition facts (you’re welcome!). The Carbmaster has the same amount of calories (80) as other lite yogurts, (obviously) less carbs than the other lite yogurts, but it also has more protein and less sugar! Best yogurt ever.

If the stats aren’t enough to convince you, let’s get to the important stuff – taste. Holy moly this stuff is good. My favorite favorite favorite (cannot stress this enough) is just plain old vanilla. Belieeeeve me when I tell you it does not taste like the other vanillas. It’s creamy and thick with an unidentifiably delicious after-taste – very similar to the oh-so-popular Fage Greek yogurt that I do love, but refuse to purchase due to it’s excessive price tag. Carbmaster vanilla is basically my 40 cent version of $3 Fage. Suit yourself, but that’s one substitute I can get behind.

Imagine my excitement at Kroger last week when I got to the yogurt aisle and saw the newly re-designed super sleek looking Carbmaster packaging! And that was before I even realized there are like ten new flavors! Blackberry, Strawberry Pomegranate, Cherry Acai, Strawberry Banana – the list goes on. I have tried them all and they are all delicious. I wouldn’t steer you wrong here. If Carbmaster is sold out (read: if I have just left the Hyde Park Kroger store), the Kroger Lite brand is also delicious and has equally exciting flavor options – French Apple Pie anyone?

I know an entire post about yogurt seems excessive. But a lot of what I do in my day revolves around food. Planning what I eat, tracking what I eat, reading food blogs, and finding new things to eat. A lot of these “foodie” types are always plugging the latest, coolest, most organic-straight-from-the-earth stuff they can find at Whole Foods. Don’t get me wrong – that stuff is usually delicious. But I also have to be realistic about what I spend on food. And I can happily tell you that the cheapest yogurt in the grocery store is conveniently the one that I like best.